Portrail Of Farang On A New (?) Thai Show

[Monkey Fish]

There was a new (rather than repeat, according to my wife) show on Channel 7 this afternoon around 3 pm:

30'ish year old Isaan girl and her friend go to Pattaya to find true love with farang husbands. After a year of hard work (summarized in a ten second montage), their dreams come true, only to be sold into slavery by the rogues shortly thereafter.

Initially I was pretty interested to see a Thai soap set in Pattaya, wondering how the whole scene would be portrayed, but I never imagined farang would be cast in the role of slave trader. Where the heck did that stereotype come from?

[sibeymai]

Maybe we should complain "Air Hostess Wars" style ? I'm sure the Thais will accept that they've hurt farang feelings and pull the show immediately.

[lannarebirth]

Don't many of the farang operated bars in Pattaya pimp girls as well? Maybe that's where the idea came from.

[Farma]

Back in the mid to late 80’s I remember many cases of Thai women marrying German men and heading off with their new found love to an idyllic life in Germany.

Soon after arrival many of these girls found their new husband was only interested in using them as an income source. Their passports were kept by the husband and the girls forced into the sex trade.

Reports of these girls escaping and making their way to the embassy for repatriation back to Thailand were common.

I wonder if this is where the stereotyping came from.

[Monkey Fish]

Back in the mid to late 80’s I remember many cases of Thai women marrying German men and heading off with their new found love to an idyllic life in Germany.

Soon after arrival many of these girls found their new husband was only interested in using them as an income source. Their passports were kept by the husband and the girls forced into the sex trade.

Reports of these girls escaping and making their way to the embassy for repatriation back to Thailand were common.

I wonder if this is where the stereotyping came from.

That sounds like a reasonable hypothesis. I've only been keeping up on the news here for the last three years and haven't found that farang exploitation of Thais was a significant element.

As far as offensive stereotypes go though, it was just as annoying that they went no further than Nonthaburi to find a rice field for their "Isaan" scenes.

[Huey]

Maybey its a anti-hoeing TV drama in disguse. The message being don't go to a brothel to look for a spouce, that works both ways too. Not that I think brothels or Pattya is bad, but a place for everything and everything in it's place. But more likely its the type of gossipy drama that The Thai girls like. Plus its something allot of girls have stories about. My wife's mother thought I may hurt her or something before she met me. *shrug* All in all I have gotten a pretty fair shake here.

[jonniebkk]

Don't many of the farang operated bars in Pattaya pimp girls as well?

I think the girls (and their families) "pimp" themselves out. Of course, there is the case of the THAI owned/run brothel in Pattaya that was raided by the Bangkok police and shut-down yesterday. But so far, haven't heard about any farang owned brothels being raided or shut-down

[Heng]

Pimpin' ain't easy.

[polecat]

I never imagined farang would be cast in the role of slave trader. Where the heck did that stereotype come from?

So what makes this a stereotype?

[Huey]

I never imagined farang would be cast in the role of slave trader. Where the heck did that stereotype come from?

So what makes this a stereotype?

Oh I don't know, mabey 400+ years of Slave Trade in Africa, recent Sex Slave Trade in Russia....

[TheDon]

I dont see anything wrong with it, I mean its just a show on TV. Someone has to be the bad guys

[thaigene2]

I dont see anything wrong with it, I mean its just a show on TV. Someone has to be the bad guys

At first I thought, OK, true enough.

But notice how the producers chose farang instead of Japanese traffickers? I'll bet they were worried that would be too 'sensitive'. It's that asian 'face' thing isn't it? It's easier to blame the white guys - cause we're 'more different'.

I'll bet most of the sex trafficking of Thais involves girls working in the sex trade in BKK or Chiang Mai, etc, meeting a Japanese 'boyfriend' who then takes them to Japan and it follows that storyline to a tee. I've read Japan is pretty bad - and neither police or public give a sh+t about the foreign girls' predicaments. About ten years back a couple of these girls ended up killing their mamasans in order to escape their trafficking debts - only to be thrown in a Jap prison for years. No sympathy - they're 'foreigners'.

One news report I read a couple of years ago related to an opinion poll on this issue taken in Japan in which the public felt that foreign girls/women coming to Japan 'should have known they'd be abused' - so you see in other words it was the foreign victims' fault not the Japanese abusers.

Despite all the talk of a pacifist nation, etc., the Japanese public are still largely unsympathetic to these foreign girls who are tricked into the sex trade inside Japan.

Japan is a xenophobic country (guijing (farangs) smell, are vulgar, carry disease, etc. - it's not uncommon for people to avoid sitting next to you even on a crowded train, or refusing to serve you a drink in a Tokyo bar. I've personally been turned away - sorry we don't have any beer - nope no whiskey either). It's also legally prohibited for a farang to have sex with a Japanese woman (though of course it happens).

Even so, farang are, believe it or not, one step up the chain than the Chinese - the worst Japanese atrocities in WW2 were directed at the Chinese - in Singapore the Japanese pushed chopsticks through their ears for fun, not to mention mass rape and murder at Nanjing, bayonetting babies, etc..). I also read that the Chinese make up most of the victims in sex slavery inside Japan. But co one cares there, old prejudices die hard I guess. Just like here in Thailand - the farangs are the sex tourists - when of course we know the white guys are just a tip of the iceberg compared to the asian sexpats.

Edited March 30, 2008 by thaigene2

[TheDon]

I dont see anything wrong with it, I mean its just a show on TV. Someone has to be the bad guys

At first I thought, OK, true enough.

But notice how the producers chose farang instead of Japanese traffickers? I'll bet they were worried that would be too 'sensitive'. It's that asian 'face' thing isn't it? It's easier to blame the white guys - cause we're 'more different'.

I'll bet most of the sex trafficking of Thais involves girls working in the sex trade in BKK or Chiang Mai, etc, meeting a Japanese 'boyfriend' who then takes them to Japan and it follows that storyline to a tee. I've read Japan is pretty bad - and neither police or public give a sh+t about the foreign girls' predicaments. About ten years back a couple of these girls ended up killing their mamasans in order to escape their trafficking debts - only to be thrown in a Jap prison for years. No sympathy - they're 'foreigners'.

One news report I read a couple of years ago related to an opinion poll on this issue taken in Japan in which the public felt that foreign girls/women coming to Japan 'should have known they'd be abused' - so you see in other words it was the foreign victims' fault not the Japanese abusers.

Despite all the talk of a pacifist nation, etc., the Japanese public are still largely unsympathetic to these foreign girls who are tricked into the sex trade inside Japan.

Japan is a xenophobic country (guijing (farangs) smell, are vulgar, carry disease, etc. - it's not uncommon for people to avoid sitting next to you even on a crowded train, or refusing to serve you a drink in a Tokyo bar. I've personally been turned away - sorry we don't have any beer - nope no whiskey either). It's also legally prohibited for a farang to have sex with a Japanese woman (though of course it happens).

Even so, farang are, believe it or not, one step up the chain than the Chinese - the worst Japanese atrocities in WW2 were directed at the Chinese - in Singapore the Japanese pushed chopsticks through their ears for fun, not to mention mass rape and murder at Nanjing, bayonetting babies, etc..). I also read that the Chinese make up most of the victims in sex slavery inside Japan. But co one cares there, old prejudices die hard I guess. Just like here in Thailand - the farangs are the sex tourists - when of course we know the white guys are just a tip of the iceberg compared to the asian sexpats.

Im sure many countries have been involved, its a TV show so who cares. In alot of hollywood action movies, the black guy usually dies first, nobody really cares as its a movie/show etc.

[WeekendWarrior]

Very insensitive post.

I bet the black guy cares.

[Huey]

Very insensitive post.

I bet the black guy cares.

Heh, Yeah I never could get into Jurasic Park beacause of that. LOL! Fortunetly though I didn't come up in my Dad's or Grandad's time. At least now I can get a bunch of Will Smith, Denzel, or Wesly Snipes Movies

[Huey]

And to be VERY Fair Thais Stero type against Thais in the WORST way. I mean really, when was the last time you saw ANY commercial advertisement (other than Dove, bless them) TV program, singer, actor, ect that was dark skinned with their natural nose (like 85% of the population) in any role other than a maid, taxi driver, or a commedian?

[Heng]

You'll see them regularly as soon as they move themselves into positions of power and control in the media/business/etc. en masse so they'll have folks who look like them that they can emulate. (never)

Once in awhile though, the whole dark skinned fad does come back around and you'll see a brief flurry of darker skin in the media.

[Huey]

Actualy Heng, They are in Positions of power. Look at your politicians, they are usualy a decent cross section of your average looking Thai. Sure there a lil lighter in the photos, but in reality there are plenty of darker ones. They just hate the fact that they look that way, its a personal problem really. They never really came to accept their natural beauty like we did so they will deal with paying billions of baht a year in acidic chemical creams to burn the color of their face and plastic nose surgery to look like something they are not. Sucks to be them.

[Heng]

Actualy Heng, They are in Positions of power. Look at your politicians, they are usualy a decent cross section of your average looking Thai. Sure there a lil lighter in the photos, but in reality there are plenty of darker ones. They just hate the fact that they look that way, its a personal problem really. They never really came to accept their natural beauty like we did so they will deal with paying billions of baht a year in acidic chemical creams to burn the color of their face and plastic nose surgery to look like something they are not. Sucks to be them.

Not to be confused with darker folks who spend most of their time on the tennis courts. When the rainy season comes around, they tend to naturally pale up quite a bit.

The people who hate their looks are the folks who are buying up the products, not the folks in power.

[TheDon]

Actualy Heng, They are in Positions of power. Look at your politicians, they are usualy a decent cross section of your average looking Thai. Sure there a lil lighter in the photos, but in reality there are plenty of darker ones. They just hate the fact that they look that way, its a personal problem really. They never really came to accept their natural beauty like we did so they will deal with paying billions of baht a year in acidic chemical creams to burn the color of their face and plastic nose surgery to look like something they are not. Sucks to be them.

Not to be confused with darker folks who spend most of their time on the tennis courts. When the rainy season comes around, they tend to naturally pale up quite a bit.

The people who hate their looks are the folks who are buying up the products, not the folks in power.

Yes I agree its who is in power, also I worked for a media company in Sydney and I had to take pictures of babies up to young teens, I was told not to photograph Asians, indians and blacks, they wanted me to oly photograph white people. im sure this is not uncommon in most countries